Shut Up N Kiss Me-Alisha Chinai-Very Good!

When Alisha Chinai comes up with an album titled 'Shut Up n Kiss Me', one can't help but exclaim, "Hmmm...interesting". After all an invitation like this from the reigning pop diva would be hard to resist from men all over. Also the album title gives an impression that this is going to be one naughty outing by Ravi Bal who produces, composes, arranges and mixes majority of the songs. A song which couldn't get as straight as this, 'Shut Up N Kiss Me' is about getting physically intimate without giving two hoots about 'pyaar, ishq aur mohabbat'. A rhythmic number which comes quite easily on your lips within a first couple of hearing itself, it has elements of hip-hop fused with pop music. Alisha is at her naughty best and sets the mood for the outing that is expected to only get better as one moves on to the next song. The 'Cheeky Monkee remix' version which comes later is indeed cheeky while still maintaining the basic essence of the song. Same cannot be said though for a 'hip hop remix' version which seems like two adults really in a hurry to get into a thick of action due to sheer pace at which the song is presented. 'Sohneya Aaja' which comes soon after turns out to be an even more entertaining composition as this feat is simply cool. That naughty streak is visible once again but one has to credit Ravi Bal for the way he packages the entire track. There is a bit of rap in the proceedings which hardly seems like an intrusion while the overall rhythm is so funky that it is hard not to get into a seductive mode while being on a dance floor. Deservingly, it finds itself in one more version towards the album's end. This time around the focus is more on singing as the instruments are kept at the minimal. A good hearing once again. 'Tere Pyaar Mein' changes the mood of the album as it gets into the melody-n-rhythm mix mode as institutionalized by Biddu more than a couple of decades back. The track moves at a moderate pace as Alisha does well in bringing that ice cold effect in her voice which she has been doing ever so successfully all these years. A decent number that acts as a breather of sorts. It's back to being naughty in 'Dil Goes Boom' which could have been a potential hit if created for a Bollywood masala film. That's exactly the reason why the song appears as 'Mumbai Mix'. There is a certain 'desi' feel to both the music and lyrics even though the arrangements continue to have a western approach. A foot tapping treatment to the song ensures that there is not a dull moment in 'Shut Up n Kiss Me' which makes one wonder why the album is not aggressively as much as it deserves. A Tom Lowry composition, 'Meri Jaan Mujhe Kehke' is a hip-hop track that has a mix of Hindi and English lyrics. While Tom takes care of the English part, it comes across as quite a surprise to see veteran Gulshan Bawra's name in the credits for Hindi lyrics. While the 'mukhda' of the song is quite catchy, the same cannot be said of the 'antaras' which do not quite rise above the ordinary. Sachin Gupta composes 'Silsila' which is written by him along with Mukhtiar Singh. First song in the album which doesn't quite make you go 'wow' in the very first listening, 'Silsila' is basically a club track that starts coming on your own after you have heard it for a few times. This is a kind of number where you want to jive along after a break from heavy duty dance numbers on the floor. The best song of the album comes towards the middle as Sachin Gupta writes and composes a brilliant track 'ghazal'. And no, unlike what the name may suggest, this is not a 'ghazal' in the offering but a beautiful song about realization of true love. A soft track that has Alisha singing almost unplugged with just a faint sound of guitar in the background, 'Ghazal' requires a singer of high calibre to be able to do justice to such a heartwarming number like this. The team deserves a 10 out of 10 for coming up with this composition. Sachin Gupta continues to do the good work with 'Sooni Meri Kalai' which has an addictive rhythm to it. Listen to it twice and you are bound to get hooked to it right away. The song may not have the most original of lyrics but it is the way the track is orchestrated which makes all the difference. In fact it is this very arrangement factor which makes 'Sooni Meri Kalai' stand apart from the rest of the songs and makes you start liking the clichéd lyrics as well. Interspersion of English lyrics in the track only makes it sound more cool which helps in increasing its audience base. An English track, 'Be My Lady's is a song of seduction composed and written by Apache Indian. Well, one has heard much better numbers in the album prior to hearing this and that's the very reason why one moves out of this high on rap-n-reggae track and instead hear a variety of other numbers in the offering. Typically a non-film album by a newcomer or even an established artist doesn't quite break away from a particular style that it sets for itself. In this regard this Alisha Chinai album 'Shut Up N Kiss Me' is different since it comes with a wide range of music.